Back to Younger Years
by Trinaluv33
Summary: On a rainy night in Leadworth, Amy and Rory are greeted by a very small visitor who bears a surprising resemblance to their Doctor. As the couple cares for the small child, a part of their heart that they thought would be empty forever is suddenly filled. Amy and Rory must find a way to fix the Doctor, but there are sinister forces at work that none of them are prepared to face.
1. Prologue

_Back to Younger Years_

_By Trinaluv33_

_~Prologue~  
_

__The candle-lights flickered, a sweet aroma filling the darkened room. Rose petals encompassed the large bed, leading the way to the open bedroom door. A police woman awaited her lover on the bed, vibrant red hair left free to canvass her fair, freckled face. A soldier dressed in Roman garb stood sentry at the door, looking a bit sheepish.

"Are you sure about this? You remember how this worked out the last time... with almost dying, and stuff," Rory stammered nervously.

Amy rolled her eyes, hopping off the bed and slapping her husband lightly on the arm. "Trust me, this'll be fun. Now c'mon, before I change my mind." Grabbing his arm tightly, the ex-kissogram dragged her unwilling husband over to their bed, plopping down on the rosy covers and pulling him with her.

Rory grinned, no longer sheepish, as he leaned into her and gave her a long, romantic kiss. Amy was in the process of unbuckling his armor when there came several timid knocks on their front door.

Rory sighed, letting his head hang. "I'll get it." Pushing himself up, Rory the Roman stomped grudgingly over to the door, swinging it open more harshly than he intended. The sight that greeted him made him freeze. On his doorstep stood a soaking wet child of four or five years, clad in nothing but a long shirt that draped past his knees, a heavy tweed jacket, and a limply-hanging maroon bow-tie.

"Hi Rawry," the child mumbled shyly, hands crossed behind his back sheepishly.

Rory broke out of his stupor, clearing his voice lightly. "Uhm, Amy. We have a problem."

**A/N: This is just an intro, which is why it's short, but I promise that the next chapter is much longer. Please review and tell me what you think so far! If I get enough reviews today, I'll update the next chapter tonight. Thanks for reading****!**


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Thanks to ISaidDon'tBlink, poohsticks, notwritten, Hamaru Namikaze, Isa-Just-Me, Tardisandbows13, Sin respuestas, SkyWideOpen, and Wilwarindur for story alerting, to Isa-Just-Me and Tardisandbows13 for favoriting, and to CharmedMilliE, trixi23, ceeare, notwritten, guest, Hamaru Namikaze, and Tardisandbows13 for reviewing! Thanks for taking the time to give this a chance. For some reason, this chapter took me forever to finish, so it's much longer than the prologue. **  
_

_**Just as a warning to all those Grammar Nazis out there like me, the Doctor's speech will have many misspelled words in it, but it is only because of his child-like dialect. I am not just blatantly misspelling words, there is a reason. :)  
**_

_**Enjoy!  
**_

_Back to Younger Years_

_By Trinaluv33_

_~Chapter 1~  
_

The child's floppy brown hair cascaded over his eyes as Amy lifted him into the house and out of the rain that had been plaguing Leadworth that week.

Rory followed after his wife, slightly frazzled by the whole ordeal. "That's the Doctor."

Amy observed the boy bundled in her arms, taking in the odd clothing and floppy brown hair. "Yep, I think he might be."

Rory shook his head, feeling the start of a migraine. "But, it's a kid... and it's the Doctor..."

The small child rested his head tiredly on Amy's shoulder, looking back at Rory through his peripheral. "Not an it, Rawry."

Rory smiled nervously, nodding at the young boy. "Yeah, 'he' is what I meant."

Amy chuckled at her dorky husband as she sat the boy down on the couch. She clucked in disapproval as she took in the Doctor's wet apparel. "Rory, can you find him one of your long-sleeve shirts to wear? He'll catch his death of cold," Rory nodded and scurried away to complete his task.

Amy kneeled next to the boy, smiling disarmingly at the trembling child; she wasn't sure whether he was trembling due to the cold or fear, but she really hoped it was the former. "Hey, buddy! Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you."

The Doctor grinned, kicking his feet happily. "I know, Aim-ee! You and Rawry would'n hurt a fly," the boy suddenly glared at her, a dark, distrusting look flashing through his big, brown eyes. "Would you?" The Doctor let the question sit in the room for a few moments before bursting into boyish laughter, a grin once again splitting his face. "Naw, 'course you would'n Aimee!"

Rory paused at the threshold to his living room, taking in his giggling Doctor and beaming wife. Demon's Run had taken something from them all, but it especially hurt Amy. Rory remembered how devastated she had been when she found out she could no longer have children. Rory smiled, observing the two silently. Now he guessed she'd get the chance to be a mother, if only for a little while.

Rory knelt beside Amy and held out the shirt he found. "It'll be a bit long, but it will cover him."

The Doctor giggled gleefully at Rory, eagerly snatching the shirt out of his hands. "Tanks, Rawry!" Amy reached towards the young boy, but he scurried away from her touch. "No! I can do it."

There was a hint of fear in his eyes that caused Amy to worry. "Alright, Doctor. If that's what you want," the boy nodded surely, but didn't make any indication that he was going to change, simply holding the shirt to his chest like a security blanket. Catching onto his thoughts, Amy asked in a soft voice, "Do you want us to leave?"

The Doctor nodded sheepishly, and Rory and Amy left the room and stood inside the kitchen, telling the Doctor to call out when he was done changing.

"So, definitely the Doctor then?" Amy asked, fighting her instinct to peek through the kitchen windows to check on the Doctor.

"It has to be; I mean, the bow-tie and tweed jacket were a dead giveaway."

Amy sighed. "I wonder how he got... miniaturized."

"Probably by some new monster that we have to look out for," Rory guessed, hopping up to sit on the counter. A glare from Amy soon had him hopping off and looking abashed.

"I'm done!" The Doctor called from the living room. Amy led the way back to the Doctor, who now sported a long-sleeved, baby blue shirt that dangled above his toes. The Doctor wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I'm weawing a dwess."

Amy giggled. "And you look adorable. I may just have to take a picture of you!" Amy started to gather up the Doctor's wet clothes, who promptly screeched and lurched at the bundle, clutching onto his bow-tie for dear life. His frenzied outburst caused him to lose balance and topple head first off the couch. Luckily, Rory acted quick on his feet and was able to catch the Doctor before he hurt himself.

"Woah, there. What's wrong?" Rory asked as he sat on the couch, plopping the Doctor on his lap.

Surprisingly, tears started leaking from the small Time Lord's deep brown eyes. "I did'n want you'ta- ta thwow out my jackie and-and bow-tie."

Amy smiled, fluffing the Doctor's hair. She tried not to think about how cute Rory looked with a child in his lap. "We're not going to throw out your clothes, silly. I was just going to dry them for you."

The Doctor wiped his tears on his sleeve, which was rolled up three times to fit him. He managed a small smile at the Ginger while cuddling closer to Rory. "O'tay, but you'll have 'ta empty the packets fiwst."

Amy nodded, looking slyly at the Time Lord. "Okay, but I'll need some help emptying the 'packets.' Do you wanna help me?"

The Doctor nodded, reaching out for the jacket without moving from his slacked position against Rory. Amy complied, handing the child one of the pockets. Half his arm disappeared as he leafed through the trans-dimensional pocket, pulling out an assortment of objects, including his sonic screwdriver(which he placed on his lap for "safe keeping"), a worn psychic paper, an unused tissue, a handkerchief with the initials S.C., and an old, black teddy bear.

"Aw, what's his name?" Amy asked, seeing the Doctor clutch the teddy bear to his chest and smile shyly up at Rory.

The Doctor gave her a look as if to say, 'You've got to be kidding me.' "Beary."

Amy tried not to laugh. "Logically, of course. What _was _I thinking?"

At the Doctor's insistence, Amy turned the jacket so that he could reach the other pocket. As he reached his small hand into the insanely large pocket, a look of utmost glee broke the Doctor's face. Amy's eyes grew wide in surprise as he proceeded to pull out a large red hat, a small black tassel attached to the top.

The Doctor gasped, bouncing on Rory's knee in a fit of uncontainable joy. "My fez!" He promptly placed the fez on top of his floppy fringe. The red hat slid down his forehead and halfway obscured his eyes.

Rory pulled back the hat so it rested just above the Doctor's brow. The Doctor stuck his arm through the pocket one last time, removing a handful of tangled yarn, a few alien currencies, half a loaf of bread, and a toy car. He let all the items fall onto the couch except for the bread, which he sniffed warily. Shrugging, he opened his mouth to take a bite out of the hardened bread. Amy hurriedly snatched the loaf out of his hands.

The Doctor frowned, his stomach gurgling. "But, Aimee! I'm weally hungwy!" He held his stomach dramatically to prove his point, lush eye lashes beating out a rhythm that soon had the Ginger wrapped around his little finger.

Amy motioned for Rory to stand up with the Doctor, holding the bread out of reach when the young Time Lord tried to grab it. "We'll get some food in ya, kid, but not this rotten 'ole bread."

The Doctor sighed and nodded, leaning his head on Rory's chest as he carried him into the kitchen. "I'm ova nine-hundwed years old, Aimee, not a kid."

Rory rolled his eyes at the insolent Time Lord. "Your appearance begs to differ."

As they entered the kitchen, Amy pulled three chairs out from the dining table. When Rory went to set the Doctor down on one of the chairs, however, the young Time Lord clung to his neck.

"Okay, buddy," Rory whispered before sitting in a chair, the Doctor snuggled on his lap.

Amy looked through the cabinet trying to find food suitable for a child to eat. Hearing the Doctor start to complain impatiently, she grabbed a box of cheerios and a bag of goldfish, plopping them down in front of the Doctor and Rory.

"Take your pick," Amy said, taking a seat.

The Doctor appeared deep in thought, moving his hand from one item to the other. In the end, he chose the cheerios, dragging the entire box onto his lap and sticking his arm in, pulling out a handful of cheerios and attempting to stuff them all in his mouth at one time.

Amy smiled at the pair. They were making quite the scene: Rory smiling down at the child on his lap, and the Doctor playing with the cheerios that missed his mouth and fell onto the table.

Amy laughed as the Doctor tried to fit his fist into his mouth in order to stop dropping cheerios. "Is that good?"

"Yup," the Doctor mumbled between mouthfuls of food. "I wike cheewios- cheewios are-" The Doctor's eyes grew wide as he couldn't get the last word out. He began to panic as he choked, unable to take a full breath. "Rawr-"

Amy looked like she was about to panic, but Rory stayed calm and took control. Rory smacked the Doctor's back three times until the offensive cereal came spewing out onto the table.

The young Time Lord collapsed back onto Rory's chest, small sobs shaking his frame. "I-I'm sowwy."

Rory shushed the child, hugging him to his chest and gently bouncing his knee. "Hey, hey! It's okay, Doctor. You just need to eat slower, that's all."

The Doctor nodded, but the tears continued to roll silently down his reddened cheeks. Amy grabbed a tissue and dried the Doctor's cheeks.

"Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" Amy asked kindly. "Why are you crying?"

The Doctor shrugged in irritation. "I dun'no!" He continued to cry, but as the seconds passed his cries grew less animated. He yawned sleepily, silence falling over the room as the Doctor fell asleep, his head resting on Rory's shoulder.

"We should put him to bed," Rory whispered over to his wife, who was busy watching the sleeping Doctor.

"He's so small," Amy whispered in awe, brushing a strand of the Doctor's hair behind his ear. "I just can't stop wondering what turned him into a... a four year old!"

"Well, he's probably around one-hundred years old, in Time Lord years," Rory corrected. No matter how much he tried to hide it, he liked the idea of having a little one around the house. Though maybe not the Doctor. If normal sized Doctor was trouble, then mini-Doctor must be three times the trouble.

Rory carried the Doctor into their guest room, carefully placing him in the middle of the large double-bed. Amy tucked in the Doctor before placing a soft kiss on the child's forehead.

Amy glanced at her watch. It was already midnight. Neither Pond would be able to go back to sleep after the Doctor's surprise arrival, so Amy offered to go start a pot of tea. After she left, Rory settled himself onto the chair facing the bed, not even caring that he was still in his Roman armor. The outfit suited the occasion. As he had stood sentry outside the Pandorica for Amy all those years ago, he once again took watch, taking it upon himself to guard the Doctor against whatever evils may arise and keep the miniaturized Time Lord safe. After all, what was family for?

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


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